For 351 days, the United States Championship did not change hands. That is the length of time Dean Ambrose spent with the Gold on his shoulder. This Monday Night on Raw, that all changed when Ambrose failed to win a 20-man Battle Royal.
Forced into defending his title in an over the tope rope battle royal, Dean Ambrose was able to withstand 18 other men, eliminating three of the last four remaining opponents in Jack Swagger, Ryback and Curtis Axel before suffering a Brogue Kick and getting tossed out of the ring. Much to the shock of the crowd, Sheamus stood tall and was crowned the new United States Champion, a peg down from his usual spot on the card — not quite main event, not quite mid-carder.
Oddly enough, fellow Shield members Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins stood idle by ringside, never attempting to intervene and stop Sheamus from eliminating Ambrose. Instead, they picked up like a mother picks up her child after they have scraped their knee and said, “You were this close, Dean.” This close amounts to nothing in the long run as Ambrose’s 351 day streak, the longest streak since the United States Championship became exclusive to the WWE, is now an afterthought.
But was it much of a thought to begin with?
Lack of Championship defenses
Dean Ambrose won the Championship on May 18, 2013 at that year’s edition of Extreme Rules, defeating Kofi Kingston. From that date until the end of the 2013, Dean Ambrose defended the title a total of 10 times. In 2014, including the title loss to Sheamus this week on Raw, Ambrose defended just four times. That means that in the span of close to a full calendar year, Ambrose had just 14 title defenses, equalling out to a decimal more than one defense per month. The longest time spent between matches involving the US Championship was from October 28, 2013 when he defeated Big E Langston to February 10th, 2014, a victory over Mark Henry – a near four month period.
Dean Ambrose sort of knew too
Ever notice Ambrose with the Gold backstage? Neither did we. That’s because for the most part, Ambrose never carried it with him during promos or vignettes. When he did, he held it below camera view. On the rare occasion that he did, it was just to spark a snide remark from one of his Shield teammates about the lack of defending the Title. A comment usually shrugged off or let go with an eye roll. On another note, whenever Ambrose was involved in a match, he’d usually toss his belt to the ground before jumping over the barricade during his entrance or toss it into the ring like any other object. At Extreme Rules, Ambrose even kicked his Championship to the side, showing that the belt meant nothing compared to what was at stake in his match with Evolution.
Going forward with Sheamus
Dean Ambrose was the Champion for 351 days but during that time, the United States Champion lost too much lure to be considered worthy of winning. It became less than a Championship and more of an accolade that is placed underneath a name, in italics. With Sheamus winning, perhaps the title will be defended on a regular basis. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. Sheamus won’t hold on to the title forever and he can be considered to be above the title. What would that mean? Possibly a stop gap until the WWE finds an up-and-comer to win and bring prestige back to the strap as well as to his own name.
Maybe once Alex Rusev is done squashing opponents, he can set his focus on bringing down the Celtic Warrior and go on a lengthy run as the new United States Champion. Beating a bigger name is Sheamus and holding some Gold is a fine way of setting sail for your WWE future.
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